Privacy Policy

Last Changed: May 14th, 2025

Welcome! This document explains how Umwelt App ("us," "we") handles your personal information in our products and services ("Apps"). We're committed to protecting your privacy.

1. Information we collect

We collect information to provide and improve our Apps. Here's the information we collect:

1.1 Information You Provide

Using our Service is optional. If you choose to use it, you'll need to provide some personal information when you log in. This usually involves using a login method we support. We collect your:

  • Full name
  • Email address
  • Unique account identifier

This information is necessary to provide the App's services to you.

When you use the App, you might provide additional information. Some of this data is stored only on your device, and some is sent to and saved on our servers. Examples of data sent to our servers include:

  • Your friends list
  • Basic trip data, like:
    • Start and end times of your trips
    • Type of trip
    • Trip length

Importantly, location data from your trips is NEVER sent to our servers. It remains only on your device.

1.2 Information the App Collects Automatically

To help us improve our Apps, we collect some anonymous usage data in the background. This data is sent to PostHog, a company in the European Union that helps us with analytics. This data does not identify you personally and includes:

  • Your device's make and model
  • Your device's operating system version
  • The App's version
  • Your country and state

This data is collected only when you're using the App.

If you don't want us to collect this anonymous data, you can opt out by sending an email to our support team. You'll need to include your device identifier, which you can find in the App's settings.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect in the following ways:

  • To provide you with the App's features and services.
  • To improve the App and make it better for everyone.
  • To conduct scientific research (with anonymized data).

2.1 Scientific Research

Sometimes, we might use data from our Apps and servers for scientific research. This data is always anonymized (meaning it doesn't identify you personally) and combined with other data. We might publish the results of these studies online, but we won't share the raw, anonymized data itself.

We might share this anonymized, combined data with other research organizations if we believe it could be helpful for them.

You can opt out of having your account's data used for research by emailing us. However, please note that we can't delete data that has already been anonymized and combined with other data.

If you'd like to know what data is currently being collected for research purposes, please contact us.

3. Sharing Your information

We sometimes use other companies to help us provide and improve our Apps. This means we need to share some of your information with them. We only share information when it's necessary.

We may also disclose user information in the following cases:

  • If we are required to do so by law.
  • If we believe it's necessary to protect ourselves, your safety, the safety of others, or to help governments investigate potential crimes like fraud.

4. How Long We Keep Your Information

Data stored within the App is deleted when you uninstall the App from your device. However, data stored on our servers is not automatically deleted when you uninstall the App. It remains until you delete your account. This means that even if you remove the App, your public profile may still be visible to other users unless you delete your account.

You can delete your account in two ways:

  • By requesting deletion in the App's settings.
  • By contacting us from the email address you used to create the account.

After you request account deletion, we may send a confirmation email to the email address associated with your account. If you don't confirm the deletion within 7 days, your request will be canceled.

If your account is inactive (you haven't opened or used the App) for more than one year, we may delete it. We'll send you several email notifications in the months and weeks leading up to the deletion, and we may also send notifications to logged-in devices. However, these device notifications can be unreliable, so please don't rely on them.

It's your responsibility to check your email for account deletion notices and to log in to your account if you want to prevent it from being deleted. Once an account is deleted, we cannot recover it.

When an account is deleted, regardless of the reason, any anonymous usage, analytics, and research data collected during your use of the App will not be deleted.

5. Information About Children

We don't knowingly collect information from children under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us as soon as possible. We will take steps to delete that information.

6. Data Security

While no security system is perfect, we take steps to protect your data from unauthorized access. If we become aware of a data breach, we will notify affected users and take action to prevent further unauthorized access.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will notify you at least 14 days before the new policy takes effect. We will decide what constitutes a significant change. By continuing to use the Service after the changes take effect, you agree to the new Privacy Policy. If you don't agree with the new policy, you should stop using the Service.

8. Contact

You can reach us by email under the following address: support@umwelt.lautje.dev. We strive to reply within 3-5 business days.